International Polar Heritage Committee IPHC

Guidelines

ICOMOS Antarctic Archaeology Guidelines

ICOMOS Antarctic Archaeology Guidelines

The ICOMOS International Polar Heritage Committee (IPHC) has identified the need for Antarctic Archaeology Guidelines to ensure that information on international best practice standards is available to Antarctic managers and researchers.

The ICOMOS Antarctic Archaeology Guidelines were adopted at the ICOMOS General Assembly in Bangkok in October 2022.

English

ICOMOS Antarctic Archaeology Guidelines

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Español

Directrices de ICOMOS para la Arqueología Antártica

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Français

Lignes directrices de l’ICOMOS à propos de l’archéologie en Antarctique

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Русский

Руководство ИКОМОС по археологическим исследованиям в Антарктике

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IPHC Antarctic Underwater Material Culture Guidelines

IPHC Antarctic Underwater Material Culture Guidelines

The ICOMOS International Polar Heritage Committee (IPHC) has identified the need for Antarctic Underwater Material Culture Guidelines to ensure that information on international best practice standards is available to Antarctic managers and researchers.

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Publications

Cultural Heritage in the Arctic and Antarctic Regions

Cultural Heritage in the Arctic and Antarctic Regions

Barr, S. & Chaplin, P. (eds.). 2004. Cultural Heritage in the Arctic and Antarctic Regions. ICOMOS Monuments and Sites Series, Volume VIII. Oslo: International Polar Heritage Committee (IPHC).

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Historical Polar Bases – Preservation and Management

Historical Polar Bases – Preservation and Management

Barr, S. & Chaplin, P. (eds.). 2008. Historical Polar Bases – Preservation and Management. ICOMOS Monuments and Sites Series, Volume XVII. Oslo: International Polar Heritage Committee (IPHC).

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Polar Settlements – Location, Techniques and Conservation

Polar Settlements – Location, Techniques and Conservation

Barr, S. & Chaplin, P. (eds.). 2011. Polar Settlements – Location, Techniques and Conservation. Oslo: International Polar Heritage Committee (IPHC-ICOMOS).

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Related Resources

How We Talk About Cultural Heritage

Barr, S. (2021). How We Talk About Cultural Heritage. Antarctic Affairs, Vol. 8, pp. 33–52.

ISSN 2451-7755 (Print)

© Fundación Agenda Antártica and Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC)

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Detour Antarctica: Arrowheads in Antarctica

Podcast episode

In the 1970s, when arrowheads were discovered in Antarctica, it sparked an archaeological mystery. Were they the first sign of an untapped history of the frozen continent, or part of a conspiracy to rewrite Antarctic history?

Thomas Bywater talks to the pioneers of Antarctic archaeology about their strangest finds, a dictator's attempt to change history, and a woman whose skull was found on Livingston Island.

With thanks to Ruben Stehberg, Fiann Paul and Michael Pearson.

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For more on this series, visit Detour Antarctica.

Heritage at Risk

Machat, C. & Ziesemer, J. (eds.). 2020. Heritage at Risk: World Report 2016–2019 on Monuments and Sites in Danger. Berlin: hendrik Bäßler verlag. 173 p., illus. [English]. ISBN 978-3-945880-67-8.

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Assessment of Cultural Heritage Monuments and Sites in the Arctic

Arctic Council Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG). Project #P114.

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Maritime Archaeology Resources

Preserving Shackleton's Endurance

Preserving Shackleton's Endurance

107 years after Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance was lost in the Weddell Sea, the vessel was discovered upright and in good condition, lying 3,008 metres below the surface.

The wreck was discovered just four miles south of the location recorded by Frank Worsley in the expedition log books as 68°39′30″S 52°26′30″W.

After a previously unsuccessful attempt to find the wreck in 2019, the Endurance22 expedition, organized by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, announced that they had successfully located the Endurance on 9 March 2022.

The Endurance is recognized as an Historic Site and Monument under the Antarctic Treaty, but its survival is by no means certain. In this open letter to the press, jointly issued by IPHC President Dr. Michael Pearson and ICUCH President Dr. Christopher Underwood, the authors outline some of the challenges facing the Endurance and call for specific measures to ensure its preservation.

Concerns for the future of the Endurance prompted the IPHC and ICUCH, both Special Scientific Committees of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), to formally address the issues in a communiqué to the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs on 24 March 2022.

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